In modern electronic devices, a large number of electronic components are electrically connected for communicating with each other. In some applications, discrete components are mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) which comprises the required conductive paths for interconnecting the components. For more complex applications where a larger number of components are required, integrated circuits are used where components are made in a semiconductor substrate and where communication between components takes place in different metal layers arranged on the substrate.
With increasing complexity of both integrated circuits as well as of circuits comprising discrete components arranged on a PCB follows problems related to the communication between components. In an integrated circuit comprising millions of components, more and more conductive layers need to be used to achieve the required communication paths between different components. The addition of metal layers in integrated circuits leads both to a more complex manufacturing process and to problems associated with heat dissipation from components. Similarly, with an increasing number of discrete components on a PCB, the connection paths becomes more complex while the area of the PCB may be limited, which may in turn lead to limitations in functionality of the circuit.
Along with the increasing complexity of interconnects comes a decrease in size of the conductive paths as it is important to minimize the area which is taken up by electrical connections. However, as the size of the electrical connections is reduced the resistance increases which in turn leads to more heat generation and thereby to power losses in the circuit.
Furthermore, the demands on the performance, such as processing speed and power consumption, of electronic devices developed today are increasing and at the same time it is more and more important to reduce the size of the circuit for use in various portable devices. To keep up with the higher demands, the number of components in electronic devices therefore increases, which means the number of possible and required connections and contacts in the device grows rapidly and thus also the overall complexity of the circuit.
Accordingly, it is desirable to find new approaches for addressing the complexity and drawbacks that comes with communication between components of electronic circuits having an ever increasing complexity.